This paper discusses the reasons which can be offered for the lower trade union membership rates of
female part-time workers in the UK and focuses in particular on female part-timers’ attitudes to trade
unions. The findings are based on original research: 50 qualitative interviews with female part-time
workers in the retail industry. The paper argues that female part-timers are supportive of the aims of the
trade union movement and questions the extent to which their attitudes differ from the rest of the working
population. It concludes that an integrated approach is necessary in order to understand part-timers’
unionization rates, including structural factors, the approach which trade unions have taken towards parttime
workers and attitudes towards trade unions.